The full rations were a psychological balm, but they were a structural debt repayment, not immediate energy. Alex knew it would take days of consistent eating and rest for Elian's body to reach a stable state. Until then, his Stillness tank remained critically small, and the danger of involuntary aging was absolute.
He had to quantify the cost. Using the power without a budget was financial—and biological—suicide.
On the afternoon of the second day of full rations, Theron left for the tannery. Alex seized the window of opportunity. He needed privacy, a focus object, and most importantly, a zero-sum activity—something requiring sustained vigor that he could easily stop.
He chose the wood-chopping block behind the shack. The wood was heavy, damp, and perfectly inert—the definition of Stillness in the physical world.
The Experiment
Alex gripped the heavy, single-headed axe, his hands trembling with residual fatigue. He positioned a thick, knotty log upright. His plan was simple: perform the minimal action necessary to cleave the wood, note the moment the stored Stillness was depleted, and then measure the resulting biological age drain.
Test Phase 1: Exhausting the Stillness Tank
He lifted the axe. The Stillness pooled at his core felt like a small, dense reserve. He commanded the stored Stillness to lend just enough vigor to the axe swing to make the movement possible.
The Stillness surged. The swing was smooth, unnaturally effortless for his frail frame, and the axe bit deep into the wood. Stillness used: Partial.
He immediately tried a second swing. The flow was weaker. He tried a third. The Stillness vanished. The axe, halfway up in the backswing, suddenly became a dead weight—a pure, human burden. His hands shook, the effort now wholly relying on Elian's starved muscle.
Tank empty. Stillness depleted.
Test Phase 2: Quantifying Biological Time
The axe was threatening to pull his arms out of their sockets. He had achieved the target moment: the Stillness Budget was zero.
Now, he intentionally commanded a minimal draw from his Biological Time to stop the physical collapse and set the axe down gently.
"Draw minimal time. Secure the asset."
A fierce, thin pain—the sound of the debt being settled—flashed across his mind. He set the axe down. The effort lasted less than two seconds.
He stumbled back to the shack, found the small, dusty shard of mirror Theron kept, and held it up to his face.
The damage was subtle but horrifying. The faint lines beside his eyes were deeper, etched almost like fine wrinkles. A new, barely perceptible stiffness settled in the joints of his knuckles.
Conclusion:Two seconds of minimal power draw cost roughly one year of biological youth. The cost of his power was catastrophic.
The New Budget
Alex stood trembling, staring at his prematurely aged face. He had his data.
He calculated that the full, instantaneous force required to, for example, burst open a locked door, would likely require a draw of power lasting 30-40 seconds. That would cost the host body decades—a death sentence.
The new rules for his survival were clear:
Safety Margin: He must always maintain a caloric buffer to ensure the body never enters a state of deep Stillness that attracts too much ambient Death Energy.
Magic Lockout:Never, under any circumstance, use the power when the internal Stillness tank is empty. The aging consequence is too severe.
Stillness Acquisition: Any future use of magic required a deliberate, planned trip to a high-concentration Stillness source (a plague pit, a graveyard, or a recent tragedy) to recharge the tank before the power was needed.
His entire existence was now a terrifying exercise in supply-chain management. He had secured his life; now he had quantified his future.
Alex now has the data he needs to survive long-term. The next steps must address both his need for training and his desire for escape.